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What apps would you love to have open-source alternatives for? (lemmy.world)

submitted 2 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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It seems like the FOSS community is continuing to grow, and FOSS apps keep getting better (Immich reallh blew my mind recently), which is a big win 😎 but there are still many apps I use that I would kill for an open source alternative. I am curious what you guys think? Are there any apps you'd love alternatives for?

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (2 children)

FOSS CAD softwares. I know FreeCAD exists but it’s very unintuitive compared to the proprietary ones. I am thankful that it exists but it’s a long way apart to become a household name like Blender.

I wish I could start writing one but I don’t have a clear picture of requirements to plan and start writing one. If anyone is expert in this field please link some research papers and guidelines for someone to start fresh.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Most definitely - Especially for woodworking FreeCAD is horrible and inefficient - even a friend who has been a contributor takes longer for some things than I do in Fusion360 as an occasional user. As a maker I love the idea of FreeCAD and the implications it has for third world countries, the amateur maker scene,etc. But I hate it for what it is. Which is so sad.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 months ago

I use FreeCAD for woodworking, and...yeah. It works, it has its limitations, and I figured I know some Python, maybe I can code up some tools for woodworking specific tasks that would speed the process up.

Almost none of FreeCAD is documented and what documentation exists is wrong. You can't learn how to contribute to FreeCAD, you have to be born knowing how. It makes no goddamn sense. "You know the chamfer and fillet tools in the Part Design workbench? I want one that makes Rabbets" is a bigger R&D problem than the Manhattan Project.

My understanding is that there are long-term developers who have left, and new blood is starting to appear, which is why the next version is going to have a lot of improvements to the sketcher among other things.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (1 children)

Blender is not CAD software though, it's 3D modelling software. They're not quite the same thing, and they're intended for (and excel at) different things.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 months ago

I know. I’m just comparing the reputation and how polished they are wrt to each other. Given they have similar scopes with modeling and graphics and everything.